The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women, has expressed concern over low female political representation ahead of the 2027 general elections in Nigeria.
UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, raised the concern this Tuesday during a webinar organised by the UN Women Nigeria Country Office, where she called for urgent reforms and more inclusive governance.
Eyong described the current level of women’s representation in governance as alarming, noting that women currently occupy only four out of 109 Senate seats and 16 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives.
She also said women account for only 4.2 per cent of the National Assembly, while 13 state Houses of Assembly currently have no female members.
The UN Women representative identified barriers facing women in politics to include high nomination fees, discriminatory party structures, political violence, intimidation and online harassment, while urging political parties to implement reforms ahead of the 2027 elections.”
Newsmirrorng.com
